Abstract
Doris Lessing (1919-), the winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 2007, is regarded as one of most brilliant female writers in the 20th century after Virginia Woolf. Her writing career spans about 60 years, during such a long time, she attract worldwide readers because of her multiple themes and innovative writing style. She is one of the most significant British writers in the contemporary literature world. Doris Lessing’s multiple cultural background and multidimensional perspective make her works have respective broad themes. It is a successful trial which conveys her strong sense of social and moral responsibility through the application of historicism in The Fifth Child. Meanwhile, the use of new historicism in the novel exactly the expression of Doris Lessing’s return from out-space fiction to realistic writing. In addition, the paper combines Freud's psychoanalysis to express the author's revelation of the dark side of human nature and the sympathy for the situation of the marginal characters, thinking of reason and civilization.
The paper is composed of three chapters. Chapter one presents a brief introduction to Doris Lessing and The Fifth Child, the critical views of The Fifth Child at home and abroad. Chapter two uses New Historicism and psychoanalysis literary theories to interpret the novel. Chapter three concludes that in The Fifth Child Doris Lessing reveals the dark side of human nature and shows her concern about the predicament of the marginalized and conveys her reflections of rationality and civilization.
Keywords Doris Lessing; The Fifth Child; Historicism; Subversion and Containment
Contents
Abstract I
Contents I
Chapter 1 Introduction...............................................................................1
1.1 Doris Lessing’s Life and Works.........................................................................1
1.2 The Fifth Child........................................................................................................2
1.3 A Literature Review of the Novel at Abroad and Home.............................................3
Chapter 2 The Application of New Historicism to the Novel....................4
2.1 The Development of New Historicism.................................................................4
2.2 The Textuality of History.........................................................................................5
2.3 Historicity of the Text............................................................................................5
2.3.1 The Relation Between Doris Lessing's Growing Experience and the Novel 5
2.3.2 Social and Historical Significance of the Novel..............................................................6
2.4 The Analysis for the Emotion of Containment and Subversion..............................6
2.4.1 Love's Influence on the Growth.......................................................................................7
2.4.2 Forming His Own Marginalized Circle..............................................................................7
2.4.3 The Invisible Pressure from Family.................................................................................7
2.4.4 The Invisible Pressure from Society...................................................................................8
Chapter 3 Conclusion...............................................................................8
References 10
